Hope you all had a lovely first Sunday of Advent. Hubby and I had the chance to doodle a wee bit and finally our home page is all dressed up for the season and the upcoming holidays. We are pretty satisfied with these new graphics which are the result of our teamwork and we really enjoyed working together on them. I have to admit hubby is so much better than me when it comes to backgrounds and layouts. We also did our fave meme: "What's Your Price?" - gas price went down again.

If you celebrate Christmas, you can find our wishes under "Gifts For You" (menu on the right). If you prefer an adoption, we have many seasonal cuties in our Adoption Shoppe, made by amazing graphic artists.

It's still foggy and freezing cold (-4°C / 25°F). It's been like this since yesterday and it's quite depressing. Plus, I'm still sick. Actually, I feel worst and worst every day. I am coughing my head off! I feel miserable and tired. I don't sleep well at night 'cos my nose is stuffed up and I cannot breathe. Oh, boy! I truly hope I won't get sick anymore this year, so that I can enjoy the festive season (illness free!) with my lovely hubby and my parents. Only three weeks and I will hug them again, yeah!

Hubby went out for dinner with our friends Sabine, Marco and Majid. I had the brilliant idea of organizing this night out, but then I had to stay home and settle for some soup. How lucky am I? LOL!

In the past few days my sweet hubby had the chance to take some more pictures of the Christmas lights that have been switched on to decorate the town center.

Today, it's St. Andrew's Day here in Scotland. St Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland. The Scottish flag is the cross of St. Andrew, also known as the Saltire. It is said to be one of the oldest national flags of any country, dating back at least to the 12th century.

I've read in a magazine that in the past it was traditional for girls to pray to St. Andrew for a husband. They would make a wish and look for a sign that they had been heard. A girl wishing to marry could throw a shoe at a door. If the toe of the shoe pointed in the direction of the exit, then she would marry and leave her parents' house within a year. Or she could peel a whole apple without breaking the peel and throw the peel over the shoulder. If the peel formed a letter of the alphabet, then this suggested the name of her future groom. Kind of cool, don't you think? I also like hearing/reading of these kind of traditions!

Yesterday I called the library and now I'm on a waiting list for the first book of the "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer. I'm number 5 on the list, so it can also be that I won't be able to grab the book for 4-5 months, argh! Hope the 4 ladies before me are all quick readers, LOL! Everybody who has read this book keeps telling me how interesting it is and that is an easy and enjoyable read. I'm pretty curious and since I love vampires it may be the book for me.

Hoping you're all doing fine, being healthy and enjoying yourselves. Hubby should be home any minute now. Good night! Till we blog again…

In my hometown it was snowing yesterday (just 5 cm), whereas we had a lovely sunny day. Today temps have been below zero all day and right now the fog is so thick you could cut it with a knife!

I'm sorry to say I'm still sick. For dinner I made one of my fave comfy food: veggie soup with chestnut and spelt. Perfect to warm your Body and Soul!

Since we moved to Scotland, we have seen so many rainbows like never before. We are almost getting used to it, so that we get quite disappointed if we don't see a rainbow every time it rains. That is almost every day. Today Kia happened to see rainbows twice, once it was double again, but not complete like yesterday, just a short piece.

Today we had a sunless sky, with a cold wind that felt as if it would take your skin off. No wonder Kia is sick. Nothing serious, she just has a cough and she feels like she got a big stone on her chest. We're both drinking a lot of tea with honey.

We heard of Black Friday for the first time when we were no longer living in the USA. So we have never had the chance to take advantage of this big sale day. What a pity! This year we thought it could have been fun having a Black Friday Special here at Italian Cozy Corner - everything in our Graphic Shoppe will be 30% off for 48 hours. Have a peek, maybe there is something you may like.

The freezing cold days we had last week are gone (who knows for how long), and we are enjoying a warmer weather. I did not need to wear my gloves and my winter coat yesterday. I admit I was very surprised to read Sadie got snow the other day, while we didn't, despite the forecast.

Around 2 PM I had the joy to see a double rainbow. By the time I grabbed my camera one had already faded away, what a pity!

I won't be rambling today, I just wanted to take a wee moment during my hot-chocolate break…

… to wish all of my American friends a joyful Thanksgiving filled with love, family, friends and laughter!

I know I have much to be thankful for. Just to name the biggies: my sweet husband and my parents, who are the shining lights in my life - my friends, who are always able to make me smile and are always present in bad and in good times. Being an only child, I call them/you F*A*M*I*L*Y.

Hello from another cold, windy but mostly sunny day. Well, actually the sun is about to go down.

I think it's time for the ladies of Glasgow and surroundings to face the truth: it's freezing cold outside, it's more like winter than autumn - wearing mini skirts, and t-shirts is not going to make the weather any warmer! I also saw a couple of them still wearing flip flops the other day. Go home and put a proper dress on! Don't you see your arms are almost blue? You are shivering and your teeth are chattering! Oh, boy, what is with these girls?!

Hubby and I had a lovely long weekend together. Too bad I was knackered 'cos of my period for two days out of three and we could not go anywhere special. I like having him home, we always have a pleasant time and laugh a lot.

Hubby was so happy to see that so many have remembered his birthday. Yesterday evening he has been "playing" with his new cell phone. It's nothing special, just a plain phone, no photos, no MMS… exactly what he asked for. But I'm pretty sure he likes his old cell phone a lot more, LOL!

I get to write two posts in a row, it must be a very special day!

Right now we have 5°C (41°F) outside, but feels like 2°C (35°F) because of the wind. Today was mostly sunny, cold but nice. Days are getting shorter and shorter (Sunrise: 8:12 AM; Sunset: 3:56 PM). The forecast: showers during the next few days and flurries for Friday or Saturday.

My parents-in-law in Northern Italy got the first dash of snow early in the morning, but now it's already melted and gone. My parents in Southern Italy said that temps dropped suddenly and it's raining a lot, but they have been lucky because they had a Spring-like weather till last week and were going around with just a T-shirt.

I would like to thank you all for your birthday wishes! I really appreciate. I have made a li'l page for all your lovely wishes.

At the bank we were able to solve our little problem (let's hope so, we will see), at least this is what we have been told by a young lady with a squealing voice like a cartoon character.

Then we took the train to Glasgow. I have to admit that the Christmas lights in George Square and the German Christmas Market in Argyle Street give a special atmosphere to Glasgow.

The Christmas Market was not exactly as we expected, just about 20 stands (in Trieste we were used to have about a hundred) and not so many things to see.

We didn't get any Christmas decoration and no gifts. For lunch we had a German Bratwurst, but we didn't drink any mulled wine (even though we like it) since it was early afternoon. One thing we don't understand: they also had non-alcoholic mulled wine… how can they do mulled wine without wine?!

We didn't buy any candy because the price was shamefully expensive. You could even support your local team (Celtics and Rangers) by buying a football-themed cookie at the Christmas Market.

Since you cannot have a birthday without a birthday cake, we had a huge slice of coffee and walnut cake just to give a happy ending to this nice day.

Just because tomorrow is my birthday, my sweet Kia said she would hand over the computer to let me write this post. LOL!

Since we moved here in Scotland, we've been learning some British traditions we've never heard before. As an example, this Sunday, a week before the start of Advent, is known as Stir Up Sunday. It is the traditional time to make the Christmas pudding.

Before Christmas puddings were sold ready-made in foil containers, they were always made at home. They were made a month before Christmas day so they had time to mature. On Stir-up Sunday families returned from Church to give the pudding its traditional lucky stir. Everyone in the family would take a turn at stirring the Christmas pudding, while making a wish. They always stirred the pudding from East to West in honor of the three Wise Men who visited baby Jesus.

A Christmas pudding is traditionally made with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and His Disciples. A coin was traditionally added to the ingredients and cooked in the pudding. It was supposedly to bring wealth to whoever found it on their plate on Christmas Day. The traditional coin was an old silver sixpence or threepenny bit.

One of the ingredients is Brandy (or Rum), but in our opinion they use too much alcohol in this dessert. We bought a ready-made one at the supermarket and heated it up in our microwave. It was so soaked in alcohol that Kia gave up after the first bite. I was so brave to eat a couple of bites more, but then I gave up too and decided to throw away the remainders. It's the first time in my life that I throw away a dessert, it's a pity, I know. Actually, now that I think of it, there's another British dessert that Kia and I had to throw away after the first few bites: porridge.

Let's move to a happier subject. This weekend has been a relaxing one and it's also going to be a long one since I'm on holiday on Monday to celebrate my Birthday. On Monday morning, my sweet Kia and I are going to our bank to solve a little problem, and then we'll go to Glasgow to go through the Christmas Market. When I was in Germany last week, both in Aachen and in Cologne they were building up the stands for the traditional Christmas Market, but it was too early to see something. Then we found out that in Glasgow (for the 5th time) there will be a traditional Christmas Market, with numerous traders from all over Europe and of course also highly qualified Scottish craftspeople. We hope we can enjoy a festive atmosphere and also have the chance to eat the typical German Sausage "Bratwurst". Maybe we will find some nice Christmas decorations and also some presents.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be nice, but cold. It has been freezing cold the whole weekend. Today it was supposed to snow, but nothing happened, just cold and some rain.

Gotta go now. I am in charge to prepare dinner tonight: penne with salmon! Yummy!

A good cup of coffee and a break…

A short one, but much needed during a busy day. I need it to relax and focus on the different things I still have to do. Just few minutes are enough…

Hum, lovely coffee smell is in the air! Ah, it's so good...

The radio is on. A guy with a strong Scottish accent is saying that our wallets will not be the only thing suffering as we buy presents this Christmas. The mind and body will also be put under dangerous levels of stress, a study has found. Christmas shopping seems linked with migraines, panic attacks and increased blood pressure, which can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and kidney problems. Wow, nothing else?!

There is a Christmas Fair in Glasgow this weekend. It's at the Armadillo (Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre), but it's quite expensive, 11 pounds. Well, with 22 pounds I may buy something nice at IKEA, LOL!

I actually needed a wee break to rest my eyes, so I should turn off my computer now. Hope to have time to blog-hop later. TTFN!

Good evening everyone, happy hump day! I sure hope you all had a lovely start of this new week. Can't believe it's Wednesday already. It's rainy and windy now, but the sun was out yesterday and this afternoon and I'm in an jolly mood! Just a wee bit sad 'cos yesterday afternoon my mom fell down ('cos of a sudden drop of blood pressure) and hurt her shoulder. She went to the doctor who said that no x-ray is needed, just some painkillers and some rest.

I still have tons of photos of Paisley to share with you, hopefully tomorrow. BTW, out of the ones we uploaded last time I simply love the last one, the reflection! Zeno took it and I agree with Jaana, he did a great job!

Yesterday in the late afternoon hubby and I went out for a walk and a li'l sweet treat…

… and we could admire the Christmas decorations in the town center. Just lovely! A li'l too much, if you ask me, but lovely!

Yep, hard to believe, but there are only 36 more sleeps until Christmas! I seriously need to start making a list of all the things hubby and I need to do. Oh, boy! Why do I have the feeling that we are going to end up doing everything in a rush at the last minute as usual?!

Zeno and I went shopping for Christmas cards today. I wanted to make them myself, but hubby is right: we have a lot of other projects already begun that need to be finished before we start new ones. Maybe next year.

Above is a picture of George Square Christmas lights in Glasgow. If you are curious (and I know you are, Frà!) you can check out the view any night by going >> here << Can't wait to see all the decorations in person, hopefully this weekend. The forecast says snow on Friday night, but you never know.

As I've previously told y'all, I'm already in a Christmas mood, LOL! But I won't start decorating till December 8th, as usual. In Italy it's the celebration of the Immaculate Conception (l'Immacolata Concezione).

This is the day when we start writing and sending out our Christmas cards to family and friends; this is also the day when we start decorating our house for the holidays and setting up our Nativity scene (Presepe).

I want to congratulate my sweet friend Amanda and her beloved Kenneth 'cos a new bundle of Joy is on the way! Yay! Congratulations for baby # 4 sweetie! Zeno and I are so happy for you!

I forgot to mention something that happened while Zeno was away on his business trip and I was at home alone. On Tuesday 11th two men came to our apartment to install a "Carbon Monoxide Alarm". I let these men in to do the installation since I knew one of them for a previous maintenance operation and also because I noticed that they went into other apartments to perform the same operation. The problem is that our rental agency did not notify us that somebody was coming to install this device, as they are supposed to. I also noticed that these guys had some keys so that they could enter into the apartments where nobody was in. What if I was not at home and they got into our apartment to do the installation anyway? If I came back home and heard some noise into our apartment, I would have called the police thinking there was a thief, because we had not been notified in advance of this installation. As soon as hubby came back from his trip, he send an e-mail to our rental agency to have some explanations. Let's see what they reply. In the meanwhile, yesterday we saw a note posted on the front door of the condo saying that they would have come today to install the device in the remaining apartments and they were asking the permission to enter. That's good, they should always do it!

Got to go now, can't keep my eyes open. Hope to blog-hop tomorrow, I miss visiting you all. Good night, hugzz..Z.zz..zzZzz......

Wordless Tuesday…

Hello everybody! I just got home from work and thought to write a quick post. It's so funny sharing this blog with my precious wife!

Last week my trip to Germany went well, thank you all for your wishes. I've been busy for my work, but I also had the chance to see something around. I visited the Cathedral of Aachen (where the throne of the emperor Charlemagne is stored) and the impressive Cathedral of Cologne. On the way back I had some problems: on Friday morning one of the engines of the airplane had some problems, so all the passengers have been disembarked and taken by taxi from Cologne to Amsterdam; once there, I had to wait at the airport and take flight to Glasgow late in the evening. No photos to share, sorry.

On Friday our neighbors left for a two-week holiday to San Diego, California, so I guess they are enjoying a nice and hot weather right now.

On Saturday morning Kia and I went out for grocery shopping. In the afternoon we went out again for a walk to the town center. Once there, we found out that the town center was closed to the traffic for a special celebration. There was a stage with live music, a little train for the kids, a marry-go-round and other games and street entertainment. When we asked what kind of celebration was that, we've been told it was to celebrate the "switching on" of the Christmas lights in town. It was so crowded and so difficult to walk around that after a while Kia and I decided to head back home. A few minutes after entering into our apartment, we heard some fireworks, so we rushed to the window and enjoyed a spectacular show.

Capturing the right moment is too difficult with our camera. The fireworks were meant to celebrate the switching on of the Christmas lights, but we like to think they also celebrated the six months since we moved to Scotland, LOL!

The Paisley Christmas lights were switched on by none other than X-Factor winner Leon Jackson and Scottish singer Sandi Thom. We have to hand it to the organizers of the event and for the weather staying so good, it has been a wonderful Christmas light switch on.

Sunday has been nice and sunny too, so we went out again for a walk. We walked for about two hours and took some pictures here and there.

We added more photographs in our Photo Album (see link on the left menu) to avoid overloading our blog page.

We added some new Puffy Cheeks Dolls in our Adoption Shoppe under Awareness (Parkinson's Disease, Leukemia, Cancer). We'd like to thank everybody for the suggestions.

Kia and I would like to wish a happy birthday to some of our Italian friends: Monica (14th), Mimmo (15th) and Lucia (19th).

Final note: I happened to read that this is the National Anti-Bullying Week (17-21 November 2008). It is meant to encourage schools to tackle bullying and make schools safer learning environments. I have to admit that Bullying is an increasing problem also in Italy, growing bigger and bigger every year.

Gotta go now. Have a good night and good week ahead.

Today is World Diabetes Day, spread the awareness!
There are many sites you may visit, I like the International Diabetes Federation website. But you may also have a look at Susan's pages about Diabetes, by clicking here. They are very nice and helpful.

I've slept in till 10:15 this morning. It's rainy outside, with a stiff breeze. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to be inside, snuggled on the couch, covered in a quilt, sipping a cup of hot cocoa. With it being so windy, the leaves are flying off the trees and the streets are covered with a soft blanket of leaves.

My doorbell rang unexpectedly before noon. I was taking a shower. Our friends are at work at that time of the day and Sabine always phone me before coming, so I wonder who that could be. Not the mailman 'cos our mailbox was empty. Not even bills in it.

Do you know it's mid-November already and that mean's 'tis the season to be jolly?!

Oh yes, I'm in the Christmas mood… already! … what? Too early? I have a friend that always says that Christmas should start with the festival of Advent and end on the 12th night, when you should be forced by law to remove all your decorations. He is a peculiar guy!

I will miss watching Christmas movies all night this year. As you know, we are still without a TV. Hubby and I kept saying we were going to buy one in January… but now I'm not so sure anymore. Do we really need a TV?

Anyway, I've heard that Christmas time in George's Square (in downtown Glasgow) is great: they put on lovely decorations and you can go ice-skating. Yesterday I've also spent a lot of time visiting Santa's Village. The atmosphere is great and really gets you in the spirit! You can't imagine how jealous I am of Jaana! She has been there! Me too! Me too!

I saw that Nancze has closed her blog. I'm gonna miss her so much, she is such a great writer and a very sweet lady.

Oh, about Zeno: he was supposed to be back in Scotland at 1:30 PM but he is still stuck in Amsterdam. Should be home around 10 PM. Till next time, keep smiling!

UPDATE: hubby is back home! Tired, but safe and sound! Good night & sweet dreams!

I awoke this morning to the sound of one of my neighbors slamming the door and I've been a wee bit nervous all morning. I look like this adorable bug. Oh boy, is that time of the month… again?!

I feel like an icicle today. It was below freezing last night. Brrrr….. It's a rainy and foggy day. It's been raining all night, I believe the national emblem of this country is a big umbrella! One of our neighbors told us that Scotland is moderately cold for most of the year, but it's rarely so-cold-I-can-not-feel-my-fingers-even-when-I-am-wearing-gloves cold. Well, I really hope so!

I was supposed to meet one of our friend last night, for a coffee, but she had to work till late. So I spent a lot of time reading. I finished "The Hobbit" by Tolkien (in Italian). It's considered to be one of the best books written by J.R.R. Tolkien, but I liked "The Lord of The Rings" a lot more. I started reading "The Silmarillion" ages ago, but never finished it.

Before heading to Germany hubby told me I must start writing down some recipes if I really wanna open a Recipe Corner. I know he is right, but it seems I cannot follow a recipe and I never take note of what I cook. I really can't help it! BTW, if you are interested in one of the recipes you see here, just let me know and I will send it to you via e-mail, so you don't have to write it down. You will be able to print the recipe when our Recipe Corner will be ready.

Full moon today, beware the werewolves ("licantropi" or "lupi mannari" in Italian)! LOL!

These photos has been taken last month. I really like them! It's too cloudy to see the moon today.

Better log off and start making myself a hot cup of tea. Will visit later. Oh, and I just update my blog roll with all the places I go to avoid housework. Where do you go? Want to share?

Zeno arrived safe and sound in a rainy and grey Germany, yesterday afternoon. He was tired and decided not to go out for dinner. He just bought two krapfen in a bakery and ate them in his hotel room. He sure has a sweet tooth, LOL! He sent me an SMS this morning asking me to say HELLO to y'all.

My friend Beppe sent me another beautiful photo: Trieste by night.

Here is what the Scottish man (probably) says in the YouTube video: "Well it's very hard to bring 'em to mind, this is the thing, it's only awright when its heart ta heart, is that us? You understand?".

A couple of ladies wrote me saying they couldn't find the 5-minutes chocolate cake recipe on Susan's site. My beloved hubby and I made it three times already, once following the recipe, once with chopped Brazilian nuts instead of chocolate chips, and the other with only 1 tablespoon of cocoa and 1 tablespoon of instant coffee. Heavenly! So, here is the recipe for you to enjoy, but beware: it's the most dangerous chocolate cake ever! LOL!

Coffee Mug Chocolate Cake

1 coffee mug
4 tablespoons flour (not self rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
splash of vanilla

Add the dry ingredients to the mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well again. Add chocolate chips (if using) and a splash of vanilla.

Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

This can serve 2 if you want to share - one cake was definitely big enough for both Zeno and me. It turned out really yummy, especially if eaten when still warm!

Zeno and I loved watching it rising up like a little volcano...LOL!

This recipe may be a delicious idea for a Christmas gift: go mug hunting, write the recipe on a nice seasonal card small enough to fit the mug and add a pretty ribbon!

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, you can find our wishes under "Gifts for you" (menu on the right). If you prefer an adoption, we have 3 Thanksgiving cuties in our Adoption Shoppe.

Better go and start cleaning a bit. Ah, I've updated the Graphic Shoppe, if you like Gingerbreads you may wanna have a look. After hump day, the weekend gets closer, yay! Till we blog again…

UPDATE: Our Adoption Shoppe is finally done, I fixed (almost!) all the links and uploaded all the cuties. Well, not all really, I think I lost a few of the ones made by us. But I will check in all our CDs as soon as I have more time. If you find some "mistakes", please let me know. A big thank-you to all the graphic artists that have shared their talent with us!

Oh, my! How cute! My friend Beppe sent me this adorable photo this morning:

Monifa (which means "I am lucky" in Nigerian) is a pygmy hippopotamus and was born in Sydney's Zoo a few weeks ago. It's one of the sweetest wee creatures I have ever seen!

It's a cool, grey, damp and breezy day here. Hope hubby will get warmer weather in Germany during his trip.

Surfing the Net visiting our Net friends I noticed many sites have been decorated for Thanksgiving. Even if we do not celebrate, I think this American holidays is helping me to find the "little things" that I should be thankful for daily. Sometimes we just forget how lucky we are, don't we? I have so many things to be thankful for!

Around the house there is a lovely smell of fresh coffee! I have lots to do today: the laundry needs to be folded and put away, dust must be removed (LOL!), the stove need to be de-greased and both the bedrooms need a to be vacuumed. Yuck!

Sometimes for breakfast, instead of bread or cereals, hubby and I like to have a slice of cake or a muffin to pamper ourselves. These muffins are just perfect, especially with a cup of tea.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for topping
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
¼ cup vegetable oil (or melted butter)
4 teaspoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 lemon, juice and grated zest
½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C, about 370°F.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, oil and milk and stir well. Do not over mix, a few lumps are better than over mixing the batter. Divide batter evenly into 12 paper-lined or greased muffin cups. Sprinkle a bit of sugar on each muffin.

Bake muffins in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick pierced into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes before removing.

Buon appetito!

Hubby and I are finally catching up on emails, only 96 to go! Not bad. I'm glad you had fun hearing at the video of the Glaswegian man, LOL! I will write what hubby and I "think" he is saying tomorrow. I'm so curious to see if someone else wanna try to understand what the man says. BTW, not everyone here talk like that... but quite a lot of guys do! Have a blessed day!

Here I am, writing a post while my sweet Kia is preparing dinner: chicken in sour cream and curry.

It has been rainy all day, so we didn't go out. Also, my trip to Germany is getting closer and closer and I still have some work to do. I am preparing a presentation that I'm supposed to give at a scientific symposium.

Yesterday the weather has been a little bit better than today. The sky has been gray and cloudy with some rain drops every now and then. The sun came out for just a few seconds in the morning, it gave us a wee bit of rainbow, then it disappeared. Autumn is still giving us lovely colors.

Since it was not so rainy, in the morning I went to the barber shop to have my hair cut, but it was so crowded that I had to give up. Luckily, when I tried again at 4:30 PM there were just two people waiting and within an hour I had my hair done.

In the late afternoon we also had the chance to see the moon. Since seeing the moon is quite rare as seeing the sun, we took a picture of it.

Even though I was busy with my work, I tried to help Kia in preparing the new pages of our Adoption Shoppe, and now it is finally back on-line (see link on the left menu). We would like to thank everybody for replying to our polls. The most voted option was "Adoptions by theme", but since some of you asked if we could do both, we decided to do so. Obviously it's going to take time and not all our adoptions have been re-uploaded yet, but we are working on it. So far we uploaded 9 new cuties and most of the adoptions for the upcoming holiday season.

This is the accent Kia and I listen to everyday: Glaswegian accent.
Can you tell what he is saying?

Here is another funny video for you: Learn The Scottish Accent.
Enjoy and have a good evening! TTFN!

TGIF and tomorrow I will be able to enjoy my sweet hubby all day, LOL!

Our photo: glad you like the photo (previous post), it's my fave ever. It was taken by Cristina, the girl who took the pictures at our 2nd wedding, the one in Trieste. It was at the end of September, 3 years ago, taken close to the sea just before sunset. We have all been amazed by the result, Cristina more than the others. She told us that when she developed that picture a friend of hers told her she has been very lucky to get that light!

Bonfire Day: I loved it! Hubby and I went to the top of the hill near our condo. We truly loved the town from up there, even if we both got home totally muddy and cold. We've been sneezing since we got home. And yesterday I had a tummy bug and the worst headache ever! It took me 10 hours and a strong painkiller to get rid of it!

Anyway, I wish you could have seen the sparklers. We had been hearing and seeing fireworks for the last week or so. But on Wednesday the whole town had firecrackers going off, and bonfires all over town starting from 4:30 in the afternoon… lights at 360° each one nicer than the other. We really didn't know where to look at. The sky was filled with smoke. Some say it is the smokiest night in the UK. It's certainly the night when local fire departments are busiest! LOL!

Before going up the hill, Zeno tried to capture a few shots from our lounge…

…but this is the only decent image he could get which was worth sharing.

The only negative note: 'cos of the tummy bug, I went to bed really early yesterday, while hubby went out for dinner with a few friends. They went to an Indian restaurant in Glasgow and had a very nice time. Too bad I wasn't able to go too. I was so looking forward to it.

Baby boy: a few days ago a healthy bundle of joy was born in Paris. His name is Alexandre Mattia and mom Monica and dad Antoine are over the moon with joy! He was supposed to be born at the beginning of December, but it seems like he couldn't wait, he was curious to know mom and daddy. Congrats guys!

Walking: I keep saying myself that I must get outside in the daylight EVERY single day. But I've been so lazy lately, no comments. A bear in lethargy would be more active, lol! I have not been out for a nice walk since last Sunday when, being sunny and not too cold, Zeno and I went out for a much-needed walk.

Hubby needed a break from his work at the 'puter, plus it is always nice seeing new streets of our new town.

Consider that we have not seen the sun since then!

Christmas: we can already see Christmas lights around the town, but they are not turned on yet. Only 48 days till Christmas, if I counted correctly. Looking forward to the Christmas holidays fills me up with so much excitement and anticipation! Christmas wasn't my favorite holiday as a kid, but the older I get, the more I like it.

This year, I really want to start celebrating early. I know my big Sis Susan agrees with me, LOL! I'm glad my mom and dad will be able to spend the holidays with us. We have invited Marco and Sabine to spend Christmas day with the four of us, hope they will accept.

I bought my first two Christmas magazines ever last week. I was quite trilled! Am I becoming more "girly"?! LOL! Zeno took this photo the other evening…

Computer free: we did something "crazy" last Saturday: we turned off our computer all day. As you know, we don't have a TV and we don't miss it, but being without our 'puter is quite hard! But we agreed we just spend too much time surfing, checking our e-mails and so on. So we decided: no e-mailing, no surfing the Net, no blogging, no reading newspapers online and no watching DVDs for one day. We should do it more often! Maybe once a week…. Or every fortnight, LOL!

Friends: We had a pleasant Saturday with Marco and Sabine. They are a very nice couple and hubby and I like to spend time with them. It was All Saints' Day (in Italy) and it's tradition to eat roasted chestnuts. Could not find fresh ones at the grocery shop, so I decided to use dry white chestnut (brought here from Piedmont, Italy) to make a "spezzatino di maiale con le castagne" (pork stew with chestnut). It was deeee-licious! We also made "linguine al pesto", the traditional recipe from Liguria (my dad's region) with chopped potatoes and green beans. Obviously, a dessert couldn't be missing.

BTW, our Recipe Corner will be a wee bit more delayed 'cos Zeno was working at the layout, but won't be able to finish it till he gets back from his business trip. I wanted to translate a few recipes, especially the one used to make "lemon and poppy seeds muffins" (sorry Jaana!) but did not find the time yet.

Books: it's the perfect season for reading. There is nothing better than curling up with a cuppa coffee and enjoying a good new mag. This morning I've finished "Glitz" by Louise Bagshawe. It took me a while to get into it, none of the characters are particularly likeable. That said, the storyline is fun, even if a little unrealistic and predictable. I am now reading "The perfect 10" by Louise Kean. Nothing special, but I'm only at page 62, so I hope it can improve. I've read the first four books of "The Chronicles of Narnia" and I have already taken the last 3 books at the library. I am enjoying this series so much!

So much to say, so little time. Hubby is tired and is heading to bed, so I'll leave you with this lovely quote by H. Jackson Brown that I've found today: "Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it, piece by piece, by thought, choice, courage, and determination". Thanks for your comments, dear friends! I will visit you all next week.
Until the next time, keep smiling!

Wordless Wednesday…

I can't believe it's November already... the year has really flown by! It's been a foggy and cold day with temps around 5°C. Days seem so short now that the sun sets at 4:40 in the afternoon.

I've not been on-line much 'cos hubby needed our laptop for work.

He will leave for Germany on the 11th and has a lot to prepare. He will be overseas only for four days, but I already know I'm gonna miss him.

Hubby was quite disappointed no li'l trick-or-treaters came here for Halloween. Actually, we didn't even seen any kids dressed up. But you should have seen his face when I told him he could have all the chocolate and half of the candies! LOL!

Our "What's Your Price?" is on-line. We have never bought any of those items, except for the pumpkins. We had a look at all we could find in the grocery store, but we couldn't find instant mashed potatoes and applesauce.

Zeno is on his way to bed, so I am gonna say good-bye now. Will tell you about our weekend later. TTFN!